Shakira’s recently released music video for her new single “Can’t Remember to Forget you” which features Rihanna, sparked a wave of criticism from Arab fans and music industry professionals in recent days.

Negative popular and religious opinion in the wider Arab world, is a large part of the difficulties faced by homosexuals, with Muslims and Christians citing the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as an “example” of moral depravity.

Homosexuality is illegal in 78 countries across the world and is still punishable by death in five countries, which include Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Arab viewers criticized the music video as well, expressing their shock on Twitter. Shakira, a Columbian artist, took most the blame because of her Lebanese origins.

“The world is not as bad as you think… it is even worse than that, #Shakira is a goodwill ambassador and #Israel won a Nobel Peace Prize,” tweeted user @EnG_SG in Arabic.

Other tweeps voiced their thoughts about the video using hashtags such as #sex, #lesbian, and #lust, in Arabic.

The video, uploaded on Shakira’s YouTube channel on Jan. 31, garnered more than 88 million views in only one week. It features both artists lying down in bed, touching each other and smoking cigars.

“They are both class A stars, and the song is amazing, but I thought the bed scene was over [too bold], and the hands [touching], it’s really bad,” added Haddad.

Arab artists are known for also using elements of sex appeal in their music videos, and viewers in the region are not completely foreign to the sight of a female artists explicitly expressing their sensuality in front of the camera.

“The Arab world is used to one female artist [appearing in an explicit manner], we also have gay men in music videos, it’s very obvious, but we never have explicitly labeled it like they have done,” Haddad stated.

'Killing creativity'

According to Wissam Mandil, a producer of more than 50 music videos in the Middle East and internationally, “a music video should be surreal, it shouldn’t be real,” he told Al Arabiya News.

While explicitly explaining that he was not making a statement in support of, or against, lesbians, Mandil stated: “whether we accept it or not lesbians exist in the Arab world and elsewhere.”

But from an artistic perspective, Nabil Alalawi, CEO of Qithara production, an art production and advertising company, was against mirroring such sensitivities in music videos.

“Stars around the world have to search for a new concept, but I’m against abusing things like social matters because it kills the creativity.

“The difference between art and media is that the first creates something out of scratch, while the other takes reality and portrays it,” said Nabil.

According to him, Arab viewers have the right to express their opinion and now have the choice to watch or stop watching whatever they want, adding: “we are no longer stuck to one channel.”

He stressed that the music video scene in the Arab world is now much better, as “there are many who admire creativity and do not disregard Arab culture.”

However, at the end of the day, “any publicity is good publicity,” Mandil added.

Columbian dismay

The raunchy video did only provoke controversy among Arabs. Marco Fidel Ramírez, a Columbian councilor launched a petition to ban the video from being aired on national television.

Using the hashtag #PeligroVideoShakira, which translates “dangers of Shakira’s videos,” Ramírez tweeted in Spanish saying the video “damages the moral character of youth.”